“Don’t let people change who you are, even if you get consequence for it,” Ahmed Mohamed said Wednesday.
Ahmed Mohamed, 14, left, and his father, Mohamed Elhassan Mohamed, thank supporters during a news conference at their home, Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2015, in Irving, Texas. Ahmed was arrested Monday after a teacher thought a homemade clock he built was a bomb.
Brandon Wade / AP
Ahmed Mohamed, the 14-year old Texas teen arrested for bringing a homemade clock to school, thanked supporters at a news conference Wednesday outside of his Irving home.
"Without you, I wouldn't have gotten this far," he said in front of a throng of reporters.
The MacArthur High School freshman was handcuffed, arrested, and suspended on Tuesday after his English teacher suspected a digital clock he made was a fake bomb. The Irving Police Department ended its investigation on Wednesday, determining that Mohamed "did not have the intent to cause alarm and, therefore, will not be pressing any charges."
The homemade clock that Ahmed Mohamed brought to school.
Irving Police via AP
Still, Ahmed said he remained suspended from school until Thursday, but is looking to transfer to "any other high school."
Ahmed's arrest and suspension incited national outcry and support across social media that reached tech entrepreneurs and politicians, including Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and President Obama. Tweets emerged under the hashtag #IStandWithAhmed and the family created a Twitter profile under the handle, @IStandWithAhmed, that has already gained more than 40,000 followers.
"I built a clock to impress my teacher, but when I showed it to her, she thought it was threat to her," Ahmed said. "It was really sad she took the wrong impression of it."
Ahmed's arrest also reignited concerns over persistent Islamophobia in the U.S. Halil Hamida, a spokesperson for Irving's Muslim community, said that the teen's arrest was a result of "manufactured fear in our community" and urged elected officials and politicians to "be careful not to paint people with a broad brush."
from BuzzFeed - USNews http://ift.tt/1McJrbq
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